


Psychopomp

by fangirl_squee



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-16
Updated: 2014-01-16
Packaged: 2018-01-09 00:03:01
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,240
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1139066
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fangirl_squee/pseuds/fangirl_squee
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The final stage is death.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Psychopomp

**Author's Note:**

> WARNING FOR CHARACTER DEATH. I MADE MYSELF UPSET WRITING THIS. This is Adri’s fault, because were talking about the whole “final stage is death/their weaknesses coming back to them thing” and then I remembered that post from ages ago that was talking about the power of True Names (in relation to us not knowing Stiles or his dad’s actual first name), and then I spiralled into this little fic of sadness you see before you.
> 
> I almost named this fic ‘A Grim Situation’ because I think I’m hilarious. Instead I named it after the term for beings who guide spirits into the afterlife (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychopomp). You’re welcome (although, tbh I still think ‘A Grim Situation’ is funny) (sorry).
> 
> Thanks, as always, to tumblr user besanii for betaing.

Eventually death comes for the three of them.

 

Allison fights and fights and fights, but she’s powerless against Death. Her arrows go straight through Death, and then Death speaks her name and she’s gone.

 

Then Death turns to Scott. Scott tries to anchor himself in something, but looking into the dark void seems to wipe away his focus. When Death speaks his name, he too is gone.

 

And then there is only Stiles, standing in the dark warehouse where they’d chosen to make their last stand. Stiles can hear his harsh breath echo. Death makes no noise.

 

Stiles does not fight. He looks down, frozen in place by Death’s power – at the cold, still bodies of his friends – and feels that this is what he deserves.

 

Death stands in front of him, a shadowy figure, almost as though the weak moonlight coming in from the windows is being cancelled out by it.

 

Death extends its hand and beckons him. "I have come for you, Stiles."

 

There’s a pause, and nothing happens. Stiles doesn’t feel any differently. He waits for the burst of light and rush of cold air that he’d felt with Scott and Allison.

 

Death tilts its’ head slightly, flexes its skeletal fingers, and tries again " _I HAVE COME FOR YOU STILES."_

Still nothing.

 

Stiles can’t help it – he starts to laugh (he might be a little hysterical), because he knows why this is happening and it’s _so ridiculous_.

 

“Dude, you know that's not my actual name right? Stiles is just a nickname. I’m pretty sure you’re supposed to use my actual name for this."

 

Death doesn’t move towards him, but it seems to grow larger. " _TELL ME YOUR NAME, MORTAL.”_

Death’s voice makes the hairs on the back of Stiles’ neck stand on end, and the air feels like it does before a big storm, like lightning is about to strike him down. Stiles shivers.

 

But.

 

Death is _asking_ him for something, and if Death is asking that means he can’t just take it from Stiles. Which means Stiles might be able to help Scott and Allison after all.

Stiles takes a deep breath. “How about we do this Rumpelstiltskin-style. You have three tries to _guess_ my name. If you guess right, then I'll go with you, but if you get it wrong you have to give my friends back."

 

Death takes a moment to consider this. “One of the three must be sacrificed. It must be so.”

 

“Okay,” says Stiles quickly, “then if you can’t guess my name you only have to bring Scott and Allison back. I’ll still go with you.”

 

“Very well.”

 

They shake on it, which almost makes Stiles laugh again because seriously, his _life_. Death’s hand is cold, and the skin of his hands is moving, as though there’s something just under the surface. It makes Stiles shudder.

 

“So, let’s hear those guesses,” says Stiles, trying very hard to think of every name he can, just in case Death is reading his mind somehow.

 

“Martin,” says Death after a moment.

 

“Nope,” says Stiles.

 

Death pauses so long Stiles starts to think that maybe he’s going to go back on their deal.

 

“Ivan,” says Death.

 

Stiles wrinkles his nose. “No. One last guess.”

 

This pause is even longer than the one before. Stiles’ leg twitches, but he still can’t move.

 

“John,” says Death.

 

“Nope!” Stiles feels as though he’s just finished a marathon. He may or may not do a small victory dance. “So I win, you have to bring back Scott and Allison!”

 

Death nods its head. “Yes, I will honour our deal. You may have a moment to say goodbye to them, and then we will depart.”

 

“Oh,” says Stiles, going still. “I guess I didn’t think about that part.”

 

Death faces towards him. The darkness seems almost overwhelming. “You must honour your side of this deal also, human.”

 

“No, yeah, I totally will,” says Stiles. “I mean, the world would be a totally shitty place without Scott there to look after everyone, or without Allison there to defend everyone from trouble. This is a good deal, and I have like zero intention of backing out, okay? I guess I just didn’t think about the person ramifications, or whatever.”

 

Death nods its head, and there’s burst of light so bright Stiles has to cover his eyes. When he can see again, Scoot and Allison are standing in front of him, whole and warm and _alive_.

 

“Whoa, what just happened?” says Scott.

 

Stiles finds he can move forward, and rushes to hug them both instead. “You _died_ moron, what do you think?”

 

It’s entirely possibly they can’t hear him, since his face pressed into the shoulder of Scott’s t-shirt. The material is wet, and he thinks he might be crying. He’s gripping the sleeve of Allison’s jacket that it’s almost hurting his hand.

 

After a moment, he moves back. “Listen guys, I don’t have a lot of time –”

 

“What did you do, Stiles?” says Allison.

 

“Stiles has given himself in your place,” says Death.

 

Stiles shoots him a look. “I was going to ease them into it better than that!” He looks back to Scott and Allison. “You guys were _dead_ , like, final curtain call, no encore, never to be repeated performance ever again. Because _you were dead_ ,” says Stiles, and this is so not how he wanted this to go.

 

Scott looks between Stiles and Death. “Stiles –”

 

“No, just listen for a moment,” says Stiles. He can feel tears spill over again, but he ignores them, keeping his grip on Scott and Allison. “I want you guys to know that I don’t regret a second of anything okay? I mean, I kind of regret making you go into the woods with me when you got bitten, that was totally my fault, but apart from that, all the other crazy supernatural stuff that makes up our lives, I never regretted being there with you guys for any of it.”

 

“You can’t do this,” says Scott, “Stiles there has to be another way, you can’t _go_.”

 

“I have to dude, I made a deal,” says Stiles. “You’ll be fine without me – I mean, you guys are an alpha werewolf and an expert archer, you don’t need me to watch your backs, and you have Lydia for the research stuff. She’s better at archaic Latin anyway. Guys, no, don’t cry, you’re going to be okay, I swear. You’re the best people I’ve ever met. You’re going to be fine.”

 

“There has to be a way to stop this,” says Allison.

 

Her whole body is tense, like she’s going to charge up to Death like she did before. Stiles tightens his grip, and pulls them into another hug before she can make a move. Scott’s face feels wet where it’s pressed against Stiles’ neck, and Allison is shaking.

 

“It’s time to go Stiles,” says Death.

 

Stiles takes a deep shuddering breath, and releases Scott and Allison. “Look after my dad for me, okay?”

 

Now it’s Allison holding Scott back, her arms around him and a hand on his chest. She nods.

 

“That’s still not my name, you know that, right?” says Stiles, to Death.

 

“Well, I suppose now I have more time to figure it out,” says Death.

 

Death puts a hand on Stiles’ back, leading him into the cold light. Stiles looks back one last time, and waves to Scott and Allison.

 

Everything goes white.

**Author's Note:**

> In my head, Stiles becomes a reaper and helps people out while he waits for Scott. IS THIS MORE OR LESS SAD, IDEK ANY MORE.
> 
> Also, the names Death guesses, because in my head Death is a little psychic and could sort of feel around for ‘names connected to Stiles’, are Martin (for Lydia Martin), Ivan (from the Russian folktales featuring Ivan the fool, because “Ivan The Fool is rarely the fool, he is merely perceived as such by others owing to his simple nature and joviality”, which I think does fit Stiles http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivan_the_Fool), and John (since that’s semi-fanon for Papa Stilinski).
> 
> come say hi: mariusperkins.tumblr.com


End file.
